‘Good Samaritan’ killed while attempting to help other driver

An Illinois man was killed Sunday morning on Interstate 80 in Iowa County as he was attempting to serve as a “good Samaritan” by helping the driver of an overturned semi-trailer truck.

The crash began when an eastbound semi-trailer truck driven by Destom M. Kidane, 37, of Tyler, Texas, overturned on I-80 southeast of Victor at 1:39 a.m. Sunday, according to the Iowa State Patrol.

As a car driven by Jareck Mieczyslaw, 47, of Burbank, Illinois, approached the scene, a passenger in his car — Stanislow Gruszka, 43, of Plainfield, Illinois — got out and attempted to assist Kidane. As Gruszka returned to his car to call 911, two other eastbound vehicles, driven by Gregg Robert Vigna, 56, of Plymouth, Michigan, and Donald Pirkl, 62, of Victor, collided as they approached the original accident scene. One of those vehicles struck and killed Gruszka, according to the State Patrol.

Kidane and Vigna were also injured in the crash. They were taken to the University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics.

It was the second fatal crash in Iowa County in the past three days. Three people were killed Friday in a crash on 240th Street in Iowa County.